Crypto exchange Coinbase has the critically acclaimed Pixelmon video game character “Kevin” as an NFT summer wear collectible – both to celebrate the launch of his new basic network and also to provide various benefits to holders.
Minting the collectible – which costs $2 or just under $2 worth of Ethereum (0.001 ETH) – at Ethereum scalable network Base gives buyers access to a raffle for an in-game NFT egg, “perks” for a planned minigame on Base, and the ability to purchase a physical Kevin building block set as part of Coinbase’s “Onchain Summer” initiative .
Pixelmon is an NFT-based game inspired by Nintendo’s popular Pokémon series, but featuring creatures that users can purchase as Ethereum NFTs.
ᴏɴᴄʜᴀɪɴ 🟡 ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ
Don’t call it a comeback. Call it Kevin.@Pixelmon’s meme-worthy mascot is back, immortalized as a physical collectible, redeemable onchain.
Coin Now: https://t.co/rtvW67EzxO pic.twitter.com/mmhUbOjZXE
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) August 17, 2023
The creatures sold for 3 ETH each during the February 2022 coin — a whopping $8,100 at the time — and eventually paid off a loot of $70 million for the developers. But the creatures that merchants bought sight unseen were widely mocked after the team finally unveiled the artwork soon after.
Critics on social media pushed the NFTs into obscurity last year, calling the project a scamand the characters they came from widely filtered Unit stock models. Noted pseudonymous on-chain researcher ZachXBT called Pixelmon one pulling carpet and urged buyers to “stop supporting cash grab NFT projects.”
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Pseudonymous Pixelmon founder Syber, who has since deleted his Twitter account, previously called the character reveal “unacceptable” And “a terrible mistake.” But amid the widespread complaints and ridicule, a bipedal green voxel creature turned into an unlikely icon of the crypto industry.
Of Pixelmon’s many characters, Kevin became something of a viral meme among crypto traders, spawning Twitter accounts and a memecoin dedicated to his legacy. Something about Kevin’s checkered body, golden buck teeth, and lost googly eyes enticed traders to buy Kevin NFTs for prices far in excess of the other Pixelmon’s.
What happens to Kevin is so classic of NFT land, just classic pic.twitter.com/AB2OewPUDc
— Doug (@0x_Doug) March 1, 2022
Even today, the original Kevin NFTs are still listed for significantly higher amounts than the rest of the Pixelmon NFT collection. At the time of writing, Pixelmon NFTs start at around 0.3 ETH ($525), but “OG Kevin” NFTs start at 3 ETH ($5,240) on Open sea. In April, a Kevin NFT sold for 4.2 ETH, or more than $7,200 at the time.
In September 2022, a startup called LiquidX acquired a majority stake in the Pixelmon IP and took over game development. The team has been steadily releasing game design updates since then, but it’s unclear when the game will launch to the public.
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The new squad most of the characters redesignedbut kept Kevin’s original pixelated mass intact – and they embrace the chaos of the past and how it may have kept this NFT game project in people’s minds amidst the missteps.
“Kevin became the face not only of Pixelmon’s hapless art, but of everything that was considered wrong about the NFT space as a whole,” Base NFT’s collection description reads. “Kevin was thrust into the spotlight, a perfect punchline to describe when expectations and reality look completely different.”